Grandpa Fred

I don't know many people that are as fortunate as me to have a 98.5 year old grandpa who has all of his whits about him! He shared family reunion memories with us- recounted the last Angles baseball game- and told Lilly that she was going to do great in kindergarten! Grandpa Fred has a real will to live- after a scare last winter from a stroke- he is continuing to persist onward. No longer walking the 1-2 miles a day- but somehow with the same great humor. It was a real treat. Lilly was able to perform all of her graduation songs and skits. Barbara and him were quite impressed. (so were we!).

more disney

It was so much fun living through our kids. . .at Disney. What a wonderful unexpected surprise. Thanks to our friend Jeremy Jepson- who gave us tickets. He made it much more manageable with young kids. It was amazing watching the magic through them. The parades were my most favorite part!  I have a few more pictures I want to make sure we share.

California Adventure

The second day of our trip was dedicated to Disney's California Adventure (located across from Disneyland).  This was a new "adventure" for everyone- as Mom & Dad hadn't visited before.  It definitely rivaled Disneyland for rides and things to do- it used the Pixar characters (Toy Story; Bug's Life; Cars) for many of its rides and events.  It had a grand parade (which of course we watched) and shows/movies- maybe the biggest highlight was a Broadway-like musical of Aladdin.  The rides were very cool - Soarin' California (hanglider simulator); Radiator Springs Raceway (Cars); Grizzly River Run and Its Tough to be a Bug were our favorites- Mickey's Fun Wheel not so much :).  We hung tough for 12 hours before deciding to bail before the Color Show started (we'll see it next time).  Two days was plenty of fun for everyone (as well as Mom & Dad's wallets)- we're ready for our real "vacation" to start in Palm Springs...

Disneyland

We did it!  We surprised the kids the afternoon before at the airport and woke up bright and early in the morning and hit Disneyland as the gates opened up.  All in all we spent 11 hours at the park- no naps and many many treats later.  We did most of the rides in the morning and slowed down in the afternoon and enjoyed the big parade down Main Street and meetimg some of the Disney characters.  Highlights were Pirates of the Carribbean (Hen's favorite and also scariest); the Jungle Ride; Buzz Lightyear; the Materhorn (Dad & Lilly only); Star Tours (Dad & Lilly only) the cars (Lilly actually got to drive!) and a trip down nostaglia lane for Mom & Dad with It's A Small World.  It was a full day- both exhausting and memorable.

Art Show

The Mount is putting on an art show in which each one of the Bug Room students' art pieces is professionally matted and framed  and then put on display in the main hallway.  Next week there will be a silent auction (we'll miss out due to vacation) as a fundraiser- we already put our bid in (starting bid is $90 - wow!).  Lilly's piece is called "My Monkey in the Snow" - catch her signature in the top righthand corner.

Thoughts on Disneyland

As we get ready for our vacation to California next week Lilly has been asking if we can go to Disneyland.  She knows it is in California!  We are going to surprise the kids once we get there but yesterday Henry got into the mix of things and said he wanted to go to Disneyland too.  When I asked him why he responded "because Texas is too big".  (Henry recently has been talking about wanting to go to Texas- it is his favorite state from our US puzzle)  Too funny!